Be of good holiday BEER, I mean cheer..no, I still mean beer

Gonna try my best!!

Wednesday, 11/23 - I had an Art of Neurosis IPA from 2nd Shift Brewing (St. Louis) with dinner tonight at Butcher and Bee in East Nashville followed by a Moonstruck pale ale from nearby Bearded Iris Brewing.

Saturday, 11/26 - I happened to be in Cookeville yet again today and had time to stop by Red Silo Brewing yet again for another new brew.  I chose their delicious Wild Corgi Brown Ale aka #2.  

Sunday, 11/27 - I finally got Ashlee to Czann's Brewing in downtown Nashville tonight as we took advantage of their unofficial "free parking for a beer" deal for a show we were attending at the Bridgestone Arena.  We each had their new Pecan Porter which was outstanding.

November 30 - December 1, 2016:  I took an overnight trip up to Cherokee, North Carolina, to play some tournament poker at the Harrah's Casino for a WSOP Circuit stop.  While my poker efforts were dashed pretty quickly, I did find a nice little bevy of good craft beer in the area that will definitely have me coming back here again as soon as possible!

Salue to the beautiful Harrah's Cherokee Casino.  While this was only a Samuel Adams Winter Lager I had at a break during the poker tournament there was much better craft beer very close by and at least this one was cheap (by casino bar standards).

My first craft beer stop after busting out of the poker tournament was at Nantahala Brewing in nearby Bryson City, NC.  The little city was decked out in its Christmas best included the cool little brewery.  I had their great Noon Day IPA and their pretty good 8 Foot Drop Double IPA.

I skipped the night poker opportunities and headed over to nearby Sylva, NC, for a visit to Innovation Brewing.  I had their Santa's Sleigh Red IPA, their Gingerbread Brown (kinda disappointing) and their terrific Cucumber Mint Ale (my fav of the entire trip).

One of my favorite parts of the trip was listening to the Sirius XM Radio in my rental car plus a couple of good audio-books coming and going.  And as I tweeted while listening to this song, "Bruce Springsteen is goddamn national treasure!"

On the way home the weather had improved greatly from the rainy drive in the day before (although it was welcome due to the destructive wildfires that were ravaging nearby Gatlinburg).  It was rather eerie looking east at the tranquility of Maggie Valley from the Blue Ridge Parkway with all the devastation behind me to the west.

I stopped in Waynesville, NC, on the way home for lunch at the Boojum Brewing Company tap room in their lovely little downtown area.  My Cuban sandwich was delicious and I had their very good Dark Zone Milk Stout with it.  By the way, a Boojum is a mythical mountain creature that collects gemstones in the area (thanks Google).

Another quick stop in Knoxville on my way back found me at the Blackhorse Pub and Brewery where I had their solid Mild APA.  

I celebrated the 83rd Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition here in the good ol' USA at poker night in style with a variety four-pack that included the Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat stout from Tallgrass Brewing (KS), an Icelandic Doppelbock from Einstok Brewing (Iceland), a Dragon's Milk double imperial stout from New Holland Brewing (MI) and a Wrought Iron IPA from Abita Brewing (LA).

12/9 - Had a day off today and stopped by Smith and Lentz Brewing in East Nashville for a couple of cold ones including their Black Ale with Coffee dark beer and the Smith and Lentz Stout Nitro.  Both were excellent!

12/10 - The 2017 Beer Tree got Zippy approval and was much-appreciated at our Christmas Party this year.  I got a varied collection of beers for the party that included the (Ben and Jerry's) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ale from New Belgium (CO), the Bourbon Barrel Stout from Goodwood Brewing (KY), the Peanut Butter Pinstripe Stout from Blue Pants Brewing (AL) - which was my favorite of the group - and a Shiner Holiday Cheer (2016) from Spoetzl Brewing (Shiner, TX).  

12/15 - It was time for some Rogue One opening night in IMAX at Opry Mills for me and seven friends.  Beforehand, my friend and co-worker, Casey, and I stopped for dinner and a beer at the Homegrown Taproom where I had a tasty Huginn Porter from the relatively new Asgard Brewing over in  nearby Columbia, TN.

12/21 - We had dinner at Jack Brown's Beer and Burger Joint in Nashville tonight and I had an Ode to Mercy imperial brown ale from Wild Heaven Beer (GA).   Then I had a Twice as Nice  double dopplebock from Hi-Wire Brewing (Asheville, NC).  I also had a sip of my friend, Wayne's, Original Sin Pear Cider (NY).  

12/22 - I've made a huge mistake...it's Mexican clamato...yuck...but, yeah, I drank it all and the Predators still sucked and got shut out by the LA Kings.  Thanks for the ticket anyway, Quintin.

12/24 - You gotta love the Lutherans...so glad I went to church tonight!

12/28 - Went and saw Rogue One in IMAX again tonight.  I think it was even better than the first viewing!  My friend, John, and I had dinner beforehand at Homegrown Taproom where I had a pint of King Chestnut brown ale from Nashville's own Tennessee Brew Works and a half pint of the Christmas Bonus Belgian-style pale ale from Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta, TN.